Carol Caine

Dear This Morning. You are shameful. I have worked in community pharmacy for 20 years. I am a pharmacy assistant. I'm dually qualified to work on the pharmacy counter and in the Dispensary. I have provided help to countless numbers of families with things from advising on medications for babies to supporting families who have loved ones in end stage end of life care. Plus everything in between. I trained for 2 years to get the skills I needed to do my job, plus all of the continued development after that. The teams I have worked with over the years have been a diverse mix of people, all with traits skills and intelligence that have made my job a pleasure to be in, when at times it hasn't been so. A lot of people have been insulted by this and I hope that the next time you get poorly or need advice from anyone in your local pharmacy you apologise to them. I also really hope that you don't waste resources such as Dr's or A and E's time by bypassing a pharmacy either when we exist as a link with them to ensure that those resources are used correctly. Too much Dr time and A and E time is being taken already as people think they can go to a and e for a minor ailment or injury, or to a Dr for the common cold, which can be treated effectively using self care, advice from a pharmacist and their trained team. I sincerely hope that these resources aren't wasted even more because of what you've done. I think you should issue an apology, make sure it's public and address the pharmacy community as a whole. Sincerely, A community pharmacy healthcare assistant.